Nam-Tso... Justice Cannot Be Done

We were met outside our hostel by Ngawang and our driver in a Toyota Landcruiser. We had been somewhat concerned that having got the price from the tour company down to 2100Y from 6500Y, we might end up with some piece of crap that would not survive the drive to Nam-Tso, but we were ok.

Once leaving Lhasa, the roads didn't deterioate as rapidly as expected. The drive was going to take some 6hrs, and we were going to gain another 1000m in altitude by the time we reached the lake. We stopped on the way for lunch, but that was it, apart from the obligatory stops for photos, of which there were a few. As expected, the scenery was something else. Words cannot begin to do this landscape justice. Mountains were littered with patches of colours, prayer flags tied there by the Tibetan people. Prayer flags come in 5 different colours, all with different meanings.

We reached the lake at 1500, after having hit roads as high up as 5200m on the way. The sun was intense, and our first glimpse of the lake was a turqoise blue line stretching the width of the horizon, with mountains behind it. We checked ourselves into the rather ambitiously named Holly (Holy) Lake Nam-Tso Guesthouse. In reality, it was little more than a glorified tent, with slightly better walls, but it was only for one night. We headed straight down to the lake. Nam-Tso is the largest saltwater lake in China, and the highest in the world. As we reached the edge of the lake, the sheer beauty of the place became evident. The turqoise lake shimmered in the sunlight, the sand and pebbles visible through the water. The few other people around had all gone right around the lake, so i went left, where there was no one. It was so isolated and serene. The only sound was the gentle lapping of the water on the sand. My lie down was interupted by the appearance of Rob, and then 2 local kids, who were seemingly in awe of my arm hair. And my sunglasses. Unable to lose them, or throw them into the lake, we walked back round the lake with them both in tow, and then headed back to the guesthouse at which point they gave up.

After a couple of hours, it was time for sunset. The clouds that had blanketed a lot of the mountains around Nam-Tso earlier had not really lifted, so Rob headed up a small mountain, whilst I stayed lakeside. As the sun set, a golden line appeared between the clouds and the mountains, until it slowly faded and the clouds seemed to sit directly on top of the mountains. Photos taken, we grabbed some dinner, and then went to bed, alarms set so we could catch sun rise at 0630. Thankfully, the extra quilts we had asked for stopped us from freezing during the night, although it made getting up extremely tough. The thunderstorm that had woken us around two in the morning had cleared, so off we went, wrapped up in a solid 3 layers. The sky was a dark blue that gradually changed shade as the golden circle on the horizon lifted further up, throwing down a window of sunlight on the lake. There were only about 4 or 5 other people around, all Chinese tourists, to see this beautiful sunrise. Maybe the locals are used to it, but I don't think I could ever tire of getting up early to witness something like this.

We waited another hour after the sun had risen, just taking in the stunning scenery, the prayer flags scattered across the mountains and the local people starting their days. Truly, a special place.

We headed back to meet Nyawang and our driver, so we could start the drive back to Lhasa. But firstly, we had to get in a game of pool on one of the tables that had the lake and mountains as the backdrop, as opposed to the bar, walls and friut machines that you would get back at home. We did have to move the table a little, which caused some amusement and consternation among the locals, but then thats what we're all about. With that done, we left the serentity of Lake Nam-Tso, and hit the road again.

The drive back took us on near enough the same roads, but the mountains, yaks, locals and tents didn't get any less captivating second time around. Once back in Lhasa, our driver made an abrupt exit after dropping us at the hostel. No doubt glad to be rid of the random, photo crazed Englishmen.